Figured I'll see what I can make for AoS (not that I have anyone willing to give it a try in my area) that is competitive (or at least appears to be)

My goal is to fit within 12 scrolls (seems to be thrown around) and no more than 100 wounds total (like with scrolls)

First, shooting is amazing in AoS, shoot as you move with no modifiers, then shoot into combat before fighting a round of combat. What's not to like? nothing. So if a model has no missile weapon or ability to attack at a distance, it doesn't get to appear here.

That being said, I am also limiting myself to what models I actually own, this is not a theoretical list, this is something I'd field given the chance.

5 units of 5 Corsairs - Repeater Handbows

The way I read the description, they retain two hand weapons even with handbows, sure it is two of the weaker weapon, but it is more than offset by additional 2 ranged attacks.

Corsairs hang out in front of the main formation more or less, remaining mobile and scattered, making sure any post battleshock moves won't be enough to carry enemy from unit to unit, they are in the front and set up wide to cover maximum area with their Ravagers and Slavers ability.

one bigger unit to keep their ranged to hit bonus for a little longer - they walk behind corsairs, around 4" behind and keep shooting at valuable targets so to not waste extra attacks (yes, this is 60 shots hitting on 4+, wounding on 4+. We are looking at average 15 wounds minus armor)

2 Reaper Bolt Throwers (12 wounds total)

These also follow the combat line as necessary, 24 reaper shots can be very deadly. Plus 2 wounds on every 6 on a wound roll

we're at 67 wounds, time to add some real stuff

5 Harpies

they just sit back, don't even engage and make the best use of their Prey Upon the Weak ability.

Now, it looks like at best, almost every enemy unit should be in range of 2 Corsair units and the Harpies, giving me 3 rolls for each model that flees and on a 6, additional one is removed. On average for every 2 models that flee, one more is down. 33% free kills, not bad.

War Hydra

Tough, regenerating, and a deadly fiery breath (not as deadly as fangs but we're building a shooting force. Hydra gets in the way of approaching enemy. Move 8" plus charge should cover a nice distance. Hydra could be deployed in the middle of the crossbows, with the unit flowing around it. (place a few crossbows on the Hydra's base so they're 1" apart but not in Hydra's way... also use the 7th Ed hydra, it's thinner)

84 wounds, kind of need characters

Lokhir Fellheart - General.

Slaves captured on 4+. Did I mention every enemy unit should be within 6" of at least 2 Corsair units?

Dark Elf Sorceress - Word of Pain

With no real anti-battleshock command ability (yeah there's the basic one, but Lokhir's special one is so much more) limiting losses is super important.

Bloodwrack Medusa

Ability to wound each model in a single unit can be devastating, hard to pass up on.

Have a wound left, so add an extra darkshard. We end up with:

Lokhir Fellheart - General and magnifier of Corsair slavers ability (5 wounds)Sorceress on Foot - Word of Pain enthusiast unless something really needs to be mortally wounded with Arcane Bolt (5 wounds)Bloodwrack Medusa - Look me right in the eye so I double the damage (5 wounds)5x5 Corsairs with handbows- Screen, slavers, short range shooters with LOTS of attacks (4 per model is significant) (25 Wounds)31 Darkshards with shields - Mid range shooting, darkening the sky with their (surprisingly) accurate and deadly bolts. (31 Wounds)2 Reaper Bolt Throwers - Picking out fragile targets of opportunity, hopefully sniping enemy general to take away the anti-battleshock ability. (12 Wounds)5 Harpies - Extra wounds for free as long as they hang out near where the action happens. (5 Wounds)War Hydra - Big baddie to mess the middle of the field (12 Wounds)

total of 12 Battle Scrolls and 100 Wounds

The battle plan

Corsairs form the first line, they move forward and they try to stay at their handbow range for as long as possible but aren't shy to enter combat.Darkshards with Hydra in the middle form the second line, they are less mobile, and pick out targets where plenty of wounds can be caused.Lokhir runs around between the two lines, hanging out with the hydra and boosting Druchii moraleSorceress hangs with the darkshards, stabbing them pretty much every turn for +2 to cast and making most dangerous enemy units regret they walked into her range.Bolt Throwers are parked to the side with Medusa moving about the field between the reapers and the enemy.Harpies chill between the lines and pick off stragglers.

The name of the game is battleshock. I imagine average case scenario is 2 units of corsairs and the darkshards targetting the same enemy unit, causing on average about 19 wounds, with best save being around 4+ so it should be possible to find a target with 5+ save or worse. Resulting in:4+ save - 9.5 wounds5+ save - 12.6 wounds6+ save - 15.8 woundsno save - 19 wounds

Average Bravery seems to be 7, so as long as no general command ability is present we are looking at (again, average roll of 3.5 on bravery):4+ save - 7 extra models5+ save - 9.1 extra models6+ save - 12.3 extra modelsno save - 15.5 extra models

And for each model that flees, we get 2 rolls on 4+ and 1 roll on 6 so:4+ save - 4.6 more models5+ save - 6.06 more models6+ save - 8.2 more modelsno save - 10.3 more models

So with two units of corsairs and one unit of darkshards targetting a single unit (very much within range of possibility of movement phase) we have killed: Wounds + Battleshock + Slavers/Prey 4+ save - 21.1 models5+ save - 27.8 models6+ save - 36.3 modelsno save - 44.8 models

Of course some models (and some entire armies) have more than one wound, I feel dividing the results by apropriately 2 and 3 should be about accurate but it needs to be kept in mind that only the first table is wounds, the other two are full models removed due to battleshock (a few bad rolls and this obliterates big wound numbers).

It may look like first turn is crucial, and in a sense it is, but: if game is played with predefined amount of battlescrolls/wounds, you will likely be able to determine who goes first by seeing who deploys first (this list has 12 scrolls so only time it will go first is if it puts a unit first and opponent also has 12 scrolls). By deploying deep, possibly putting Hydra/Medusa further up front as a bait can delay the opponent from advancing too quickly.

Since Combat phase is the only one that alternates between units, shooting becomes that much more important (your entire army shoots in one go, but only your units within 3" of the enemy get to fight in close combat and not necessarily first). On top of that Battleshock *adds* wounds suffered in hero/movement/shooting/combat phases for one massive battleshock roll. It is easy to stack up those wounds on a single unit to make them fail their roll terribly.

The above math is using only 3 of 12 battlescrolls. I can imagine another 2 units of corsairs, medusa and 2 reapers can achieve a similar result on another enemy unit.

Also a point of importance: If a unit of corsairs is depleted to 1-2 models, simply retreat and replace it with another unit, preferably other corsairs, medusa, hydra or harpies, whichever is handy - to maintain the slavers rule.

Edit:

Alternatively, if you have the model, replace medusa with Deathknell watch and add 5 more darkshards.Place all Darkshards and a sorceress inside the Deathknell watch.Bask in glorious shooting re-rolls against your chosen enemy unit.

You might want to consider a kharyibdyss for its abysal howl ability -1 to a units bravery (nice)

Also some dark riders they shoot and attack well (basically 6 attacks each if you shoot then charge) and depending on how the opponent sets up you might get them charging turn one on a 10 and not losing your shots as you do these before you charge. Also their ability is another bubble and puts more pressure on the opponents Battleshock, a bit of luck and some casualties and you could get a alpha strike on a smaller unit turn one this way

Finally some warlocks maybe instead of sorceress as their doombolt is stronger wound causer plus they cash fight and have movement. (But cost 2x wounds)

Armies that can mass hold off battleshock will annoy you but you do have a good amount of shooting so even if they don't run dead is dead :-)

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